Wednesdays with Wayne – Keep on Rollin’!
Thursday, May 17, 2007
by Bill W – Trying to beat Gary Wright on the American Sprint Cars on Tour series can be a tough chore, and it was one that the ASCoT competitors found impossible last weekend. Wayne Johnson gave it his best shot, and exited the weekend where he entered, second in points behind the Texan.
The weekend started in Wayne’s hometown of Oklahoma City with a familiar refrain. “I can’t draw. I need some help there,” said Johnson. A third place run in his heat race set him up for the feature event on the 3/8 mile oval. “We were too tight…we started 12th. It was really slick. It looked like rain, and they didn’t put any water on it. They dug the track up after the stock cars ran, and that brought the moisture up, since they had had so much rain. Everyone seemed to be tight, except for G.W.!”
Wayne managed a respectable seventh place finish, but he expected more after wiring the field at the same venue last March. “It was my fault…driver error. There were too many distractions,” he says.
With the rig pointed south to Mesquite, Texas and the Devil’s Bowl Speedway, hopes were high on Saturday. With strong second place runs in both his heat and the dash (from sixth), Wayne would start outside of Wright for the feature event.
He takes us through the first few laps. “At the start of the race, Gary got a jump on me, and we kind of just rode around the cushion (in second). Every time we got to traffic, there seemed to be a caution.”
Johnson hoped that lapped traffic would provide an opportunity that never came. Jason Johnson entered the fray, and the battle for second place was on. “I don’t think I’ve ever been slid so many times in one race. For ten laps, I bet (Jason) slid me in every corner. We were able to drive back under every time, but any time you’re doing that, you’re losing more and more ground on the leader.” Though he secured second after pulling away from Jason with four laps to go, the Hooks, Texas native was long gone. Still, it was a solid showing for the H&H Farms #94 team.
New York, New York!
Wayne Johnson will head to the “Empire State” this weekend for the Northeast’s biggest 360 race of the year. The 9th Annual Bully Hill Vineyards New York Sprint Nationals awaits this Friday and Saturday at Black Rock Speedway near Dundee, New York.
Some heavy hitters are expected, including 2-time Empire Super Sprints champion, Lance Yonge, “The Cobra” Chuck Hebing, Bryan Howland and veteran hotshoe Kenny Adams. The team is tentatively planning on running Susquehanna Speedway near Newberrytown, Pennsylvania for their regular show this Sunday. Wayne has never seen either racetrack.
Some time off between races may provide an opportunity to see the big city of New York. “I’d like to see it,” says Wayne. “I’d like to drive through it, but I ain’t stopping!” Everything I know about New York traffic tells me he’ll be stopping frequently, and Wayne, there is an ocean on the other side, so please turn around at some point!
A Look Ahead
Next week will find the ASCoT at Susquehanna Speedway on Thursday, May 24, and Virginia Motor Speedway near Saluda, Virginia on Friday and Saturday, May 25 and 26.
On the way home, the team will race at Clayhill Motorsports near Atwood, Tennessee in USCS Speedweek action. Wayne will return to Knoxville 410 action on June 2 and June 9.
|